For that phrase to mean anything more to us, we have to move from dreaming to doing. That can be difficult. The path before us isn’t clear, and we don’t know exactly where we are headed. The key here is to start.

Leaving the 9 to 5 to start a business for yourself is a dream to which many people aspire. We want freedom. We want to work on our own terms. We want to be creative in the work we do. Most of all we don’t want someone telling us what to do.

Earlier this year, Yelp released their rankings for best places to eat in 2017. You may have seen it already, but if you haven’t, it’s worth checking out. There are some interesting observations to be made on the list. For instance, about half of the restaurants have only been open two years or less. Many of them seem commonplace and unassuming.

We learned some important lesson that first year. Since applying this wisdom to our business we’ve a shift that has brought with it less stress, more business, and happier clients. Here are the three most important lessons we learned in the early stages of our business.

Now, there are more ways to market your products or services than ever. What used to always work isn’t as effective anymore. You need to get creative. To really stand out and grow consistently as a business you have to start thinking outside the box.

It’s obviously no secret that Apple is special. A company that continues to grow at an astounding rate, bringing in more cash that any company has handled before. Despite aggressive competitors nipping at their heels, Apple still sits atop the smartphone and personal computer industries, but for reasons that are not traditionally typical for industry leaders (or maybe they are).

Microsoft, is a global company with major consumer and enterprise businesses. They holds press conferences and events all over the world on a regular basis. Except that this time, the invitation to the Shanghai event was posted to Instagram by Panos Panay, Microsoft's hardware chief, with the hashtag "#Surface."